When a web host begins to gain a reputation for great service, it can feel like a superhuman feat to keep up with the demands of a growing business. Thankfully, hosts can depend on the help they need from the heroic developers of online automation tools and control panels. cPanel & WHM (WebHost Manager) is a control panel for the Linux operating system, allowing hosts, resellers, and end-users to work with their hosting accounts through a web-based browser. WHMCS (WebHost Manager Complete Solution) is a system that turbo-charges the provisioning of new accounts, client management, billing and support.

But while these two heroes of the web hosting world are often used together by millions of users worldwide, their distinct, separate nature previously forced hosts to use both tools separately to manage a single account. This adds to the administrative workload within a web hosting company, increasing expenses and affects the company’s ability to deliver fast and responsive customer service.

Finally, these two giants of the web hosting industry are coming together. With the goal of creating a more integrated solution for web hosting providers, cPanel, Inc., and WHMCS Ltd. have recently announced a new partnership to deliver a more cohesive solution that includes both control panel functionality and billing.

“We have felt for some time now that a much-needed component for cPanel & WHM was an e-commerce solution to automate billing, account creation, and so on,” says Aaron Phillips, Vice President of Operations at cPanel, Inc. “We knew if we built our own product, we would be competing primarily against WHMCS, and the challenge would be to produce something better.”

Under the new agreement, cPanel, Inc., will now have a financial stake in WHMCS Ltd. This strategy gives WHMCS Ltd. access to cPanel, Inc.’s vast business resources, and also allows both companies to benefit from shared expertise under a “brain trust” model. As a result, customers can enjoy tighter integration and an optimized exchange of information between the two individual platforms. WHMCS will not be included in cPanel & WHM, thus there will be no automatic deployment or need to opt-out within cPanel or WHM.
Posted by Matt on Monday, July 16th, 2012